What are some of the great buildings that can be struck and damage ensue..

[Ronald Montesano]

Clubhouse at Cherry Hill (where Ian Andrew is working) is so much in the target line of the puller that they were forced to put up netting.

[Bob_Huntley]

I have hit THe Old Course Hotel but not broken any windows.

My son shanked a wedge through the last big window of MPCC's Clubhouse from the slope on the Dunes 18th. It was a Sunday and the Loggia was packed with the usual geriatric crowd, fortunately the end portion of the room was curtained off and no one was near... or hurt. Apparently it did cause a couple of pacemakers to shudder.

Bob

[TEPaul]

Here's an example of a building in play on a hole but not really for anyone other than the ultra long.

It's Sandy Run G.C. in Philadelphia's 18th hole. For most of us you just try to hit the ball out there with something, even a driver alongside the clubhouse and from there you just have a short iron in as the hole bends around the clubhouse to the right.

A number of years ago I was playing in that clubs "A" class better ball tournament called The Hoffner and my partner and I were paired with Neil McDermott (later to become the president of GAP) and one of his young sons, Michael McDermott. Mike has been the Player of the Year of the Golf Association of Philadelphia a number of times over the recent years including this year.

Mike McDermott was a great big tall kid and we'd heard he was ultra long but I wasn't ready for that particular round when I saw him play for the first time. Since it was a better ball Mike went right after 2-3 of the short par 4s (something I'd never seen anyone do before at Sandy Run) and when we got to the 18th without saying anything he took out his driver and hit his tee shot clear over the clubhouse and a bit past the green on the left.

There wasn't much to say with something like that other than to just shake your head in amazement. It's a good thing he didn't hit that particular tee shot low or he might've knocked over Sandy Run's clubhouse.

But for all these stories about the ultra long player it seems like there's always someone out there that can top them with regularity. I saw Mike McDermott some years later just after he played in the US Amateur and he either played against or qualified with that guy who won it that year who was really long and Mike said he could hardly believe it because he'd never seen anyone keep up with him but that guy was about 20+  yards passed him all day long.

That makes me think of that John Hurley from Nebraska. I don't think anyone has seen anyone that long, including the USGA's Tech Center. From time to time I email him to ask if he's run into anyone yet who can get it passed him and he always says simply: "Not yet."  

[John Kavanaugh]

One of my favorites is the parking lot OB at Fendrich GC in Evansville, In where way back in 76 I hit a persimmon toe hook that hit a gold El Camino.  Even in the day of soft balls and hard cars the only noise louder than ball against metal was my playing partner's screams as he informed me it was his @%&*$#!! car.

JK, was that your lime green AMC Pacer with gold wheels, hood scoop, fuzzy dice, and a "honk if you like Dungeons and Dragons" bumper stick that I hit in 1979 at Fendrich GC?   

Joe,

I just read your post to my wife and she asked how the hell you knew me.  I drove this 1977 yellow with wood trim 1977 Pacer from 77 to 82 when I sold it for $150.  It was the car I drove both when I met and married my wife.  Some things you just can't explain.

[Anthony Gray]

 I have seen someone bank one off the clubhouse at Prestwick back into play.

[Bob_Huntley]

That makes me think of that John Hurley from Nebraska. I don't think anyone has seen anyone that long, including the USGA's Tech Center. From time to time I email him to ask if he's run into anyone yet who can get it passed him and he always says simply: "Not yet."  

Tom,

Where is John now and what is he doing in the golf world?

Bob

[Matt OBrien]

How about the 18th Green at Llanarch CC. The patio may be 10-15 ft behind the green. It makes you think about the people on the patio.

[Jamey Bryan]

Not a building, but.....

Years ago, the 13th at Camden Country Club (a short dogleg par 5) was located hard against the YMCA.  The teebox was slightly behind and to the left of the tennis courts.

One round I was paired with a horrible hack who quickly shanked two shots into the courts.  As he was teeing his third he straightened and asked "What do I lie now?"  Another playing partner quickly responded "Love-thirty!" 

[Adam Jeselnick]

I'll add two tee shots off the hotel at #17 TOC -- though even more memorable from that round was banking my tee shot at #18: off a parked sedan and back into the fairway, on my way to a 1-putt par.

The buildings do not qualify as "great", but the cottages lining the fairways at Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis are very much in play for several holes.  Fortunately the glass on the patio doors is shatter-proof...

What about golf courses set in the midst of skyscrapers?
see:  http://us.gfx.tripist.com/photos/4347/family_golf_center_chicago.jpg

[SPDB]

Pretty unbelievable that no one has mentioned MacKenzie's house alongside the narrow 6th at Pasatiempo. I would say its probably the only course where the architect's house in play, but a wild block may put Donald Ross' home in play at the 16th at Essex County Club.

[Deucie Bies]

Even though I have played it a handful of times, I can't remember if the barn on number 12 at Laurel Valley could come into play.  I think it is too far down to come into play off the tee, but it might affect the second shot from a badly pulled/hooked tee shot.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

1st at Royal Liverpool - easy to clatter the clubhouse.
1st at Ringway (Colt/Braid) plays right across the principal rooms of the clubhouse.
Stoke Poges (as it was in those days) used to have a corker of a short par 4 played over the entrance road through a gap between a tree on the left and the palatial clubhouse on the right. Sadly, it disappeared during the rebuild/expansion to 27-holes.
18th at Cannes-Mougins - easy to pull one into the dining room of the Mas-style clubhouse.
18th at Elie - my younger son sent a party of American visitors running for safety as he attempted to drive the final green. He hit the clubhouse instead.

When I was a boy I set off a fire extinguisher in the doorway into the men's locker room at Lilleshall Hall (Colt) when I pulled my tee shot violently off the heel at great speed. These were the days before safety catches.

The final shot at the little 9-hole Grange Fell in the Lake District is a drop shot downhill to a green beside the club house (club hut might be more accurate). It has a corrugated iron roof. It makes a satisfying noise when struck.

I don't know if the course has been altered since I last played there in the 80s, but Easingwold in Yorkshire finished with a reachable par 5 (even for me in those days). To reach the green in two you had to aim your second shot over the professional's shop!

When I played at RAF Waddington near Lincoln the left hand side of the final fairway was largely occupied by a redundant Vulcan bomber. It resonates beautifully to a perfectly struck left-hander's slice.

It is also all too easy for a right hander to slice a ball onto a light aircraft on one of the early holes at Denham.

When Alwoodley sold their old practice ground (or practice course as it was described) they brought in Mark James to hit wild drives from the 18th tee to determine where they should plant trees in order to protect the new occupants.

Many members of Wilmslow are quite well-heeled and the approach to the 11th green is made towards serried ranks of Aston Martins, Bentleys and Porsches. Few ever overhit their approaches - most of us coming up woefully short.  

[Brad Tufts]

I have actually hit the buildings on the right of #1 at Bandon Dunes.

My first shot of the vacation landed on the roof, trickled down to the low mounds adjacent to the building, just in bounds.

From there I hit a 5-wood to the front of the green and made a 40-footer for birdie.  

[Andrew Mitchell]

The Old Course Hotel is the obvious one and the houses to the right of the 18th fairway at North Berwick and TOC.  I've witnessed a slice into the road, which then bounced off a shop wall, to the right of the 18th at Silloth.

My concern is usually skulling an approach where the clubhouse is immediately behind the 18th green.  North Berwick, Lytham and Howley Hall come to mind as potential disasters.

I also remember slicing my opening tee shot on to the clubhouse roof at Branshaw when learning to play as a junior

[Mark Smolens]

I saw a friend hit a duck hook off the roof of the clubhouse on #18 on one of the courses at Desert Mountain.  Not sure which course, but he got it up and down from the deep bunker left of the green.

[Evan Fleisher]

Agree on the Road Hole at TOC... we're not sure, but it's at least a fun story to think a guy in our group might have taken out a window.  When we hit, he smoked his drive but also pushed it well right.  We heard a loud noise but figured it probably just bounced off the hotel or something.  That night, after having dinner in the Old Course Hotel, we were walking around and found a shattered window on one of the patios out back.  There was a Titleist 4 laying over in the corner, which is what he was playing, but he never marked his ball as it was a new ball that he was playing with after just hitting it OB right on 16.  Alas, we'll never know for sure if it was his, but it sure is a fun story.

I also bounced one off the window paneling of the member's dining room on 18 at Royal Troon.  My idiot caddie handed me the wrong club, but fortunately my ball bounced backwards and landed in bounds.  Still made par.  

CJ,

I did the same exact thing, only it happened at Prestwick.  Ball ended up on the putting green to the right of 18 and I made par from there. 

[Mike Mosely]

That parking lot to the left of 10 at Philly Cricket Club scares me.  One double cross and some Jag gets it in the window.

[Mike_Cirba]

This is by far the scariest tee shot on the planet.

Did I mention that there is a diner RIGHT behind the green?


http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,33957.0.html


Also, I'd be remiss not to mention a new one that I played recently.   The par five 7th hole at old Charlevoix GC in northern MI has a restaurant that seems about 30 yards the right of the green.  

Considering that it's reachable in two at about 470 yards, I can't imagine that it doesn't get popped frequently.

[Kalen Braley]

Mike,

That par 3 reminds me just a touch of the 5th hole at Bonneville, even though you can miss that hole right and long.  With Foothill blvd looming literally 15 feet from the edge of the green, best to be sure you don't miss left. 

[John Moore II]

At Foxfire, while I was working there, there was a house on the right side of the driving range that we would intentionally try to hit because they guy that lived there was a prick. I think I drilled one through his kitchen window once.

[Mike_Cirba]

Zoom into the green just to the left of the "31" sign on the road.

I also forgot the hole in question crosses a public road, and then the greensite is literally a chip shot from a busy restaurant.

Behind the green is the major highway through town!


Mind you, this is a 470 yard par five, so lots of 3-woods incoming~!   

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Charlevoix&state=MI#a/maps/l:::Charlevoix:MI::US:45.3181:-85.258301:city:Charlevoix+County/m:hyb:12:45.321237:-85.241152:0:::::/io:0:::::f:EN:M:/e

[Ed Oden]

The best player on the planet managed to hit the roof at Firestone.

[Anthony Gray]

[Anthony Gray]

 Sorry no notation. I'm learning how to post photos.

  Insurance that is purchased prior to teeing at North Berwick.

                                              Anthony

[Tony_Muldoon]